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I’m primarily a short fiction writer, though I delve into longer things now and again. But I’ve also dipped my toes into poetry and flash fiction–at first in a sort of accidental way, and eventually in a more intentional way.

One of the tips that’s given to writers is to give your characters sufficient try-fail cycles in order to add tension and conflict to stories. But I think it’s also true that writers need try-fail cycles of their own–trying out new styles or lengths in order to grow as writers.

I may not be good at poetry yet, and I’m still working out how to write really compelling flash, but I think that trying and failing at both of these things are improving my attempts, and also improving other areas of my writing. Poetry is teaching me all sorts of tricks about language, and flash fiction is teaching me how to be sparse but evocative with words. Both of these are lessons that I can apply to short stories and novels!